Prosecution for Hirers of Bicycles Who Damage Bicycles Illegally

Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked  the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Government will prosecute hirers of rental bicycles who damage, dismantle or dispose of bicycles illegally or convert them for their own use.

The Police will conduct an investigation if a case is reported and a criminal offence is committed. Based on the facts of the case, the Police will consult the Attorney-General's Chambers, who will decide whether to prosecute the persons involved, whether the offender is a hirer or not.

This approach is no different from how we deal with other offences. For example, last month, the Police investigated two cases at Jalan Tenteram and Upper Boon Keng, where rental bicycles were thrown from buildings. The person arrested for the Upper Boon Keng case was charged in Court and he was convicted of a rash act and sentenced to nine weeks' jail. For the Jalan Tenteram case, an arrest was also made and investigations are ongoing.

However, prosecution by itself will not eliminate the problem of misuse or abuse of the rental bicycles. The bicycle rental companies and the hirers have to take responsibility to ensure the appropriate use of the rental bicycles.

Mdm Speaker, there were several reports in the newspapers about bicycles having been dismantled, having had their Global Positioning System (GPS) devices removed, and some are thrown into the river and so on. Surely, the Police ought to take punitive action. If we do nothing, then it may be seen that we are tolerating, we are accepting behaviour that totally disregards the rights of the owners of bicycles. If we allow such behaviour to continue, then, today, it may be those bike-sharing companies; tomorrow, it will be some other illegal activity.

I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether the Police would take a more stringent approach against culprits who abuse shared bicycles, who remove and dismantle them or who basically convert the shared bicycles to their own use and leave these bicycles at home. To me, this is theft, this is conversion.

I thank the Member for raising the issue. It is an issue that we take seriously and we will work closely with the Ministry of Transport to conduct enforcement action. Where necessary, we will take punitive action to deter such acts.